Showing posts with label Lessons. Show all posts

That's going to be the new label for my mistakes, lol I've added a little label cloud so if there's something specific readers want misinformation/false hopes/advice on, they can click on 'keyboard' ...or 'lessons learned'.
I went out to assess the frame situation. Oh, Lord. I didn't make rectangles, I made a sort of different parallelogram. What's weird was that if the original edges were together, it looked terrible, but factory edge to factory edge it didn't look...half...bad from the front. The back edge didn't align though. After a good hard look at it, I came to the conclusion that if I already poured 60 bucks into this, it should be damn near perfect. Another $16 won't break the bank.

There was one very important thing I forgot to account for on my 'first draft': Vents. There are about 6 in total vents I probably should have considered cutting before assembling the fragile formation. I considered f-hole shapes (at least for the sound vents) as they have a natural undulation to them that is so art nouveau, but I feel like that's swiping from Datamancer's design. As for the fan vents, I have no idea as of yet. I did, however, take this opportunity to see how my moulding would look with holes sawed into it. They're crude holes, but I was basically trying to get the idea of how ridiculous it would look. The bottom part of Right pic (which is the top of the box, still following?) looks fine, I'm having mixed feelings about the top views though. The wood is so thick, I'm wondering if it will look hideous later on...I'm still going to have to buy more wood.

Crest-fallen yet again, I looked forward to the sunny and dry weather so I could seal my keys. And guess what people? They look great! Finally! I sprayed 2 coats of clear lacquer on them, and they are nice and shiny now. Done with the normal keys, I went to fit my odd-shaped ones and realized they are a little too big. Easy fix though, I snipped off some of the frilliest stuff with the good ol' tin snips, now they fit just fine. I finished snipping holes in my velvet backing too, and after a quick lint-brushing (I forgot velvet picks up Everything), it was fitted to the keyboard and I gave the keys a test fit. Everything fits!! Only some minor velvet problems, but otherwi-where is 'r'?...WHERE IS R?! It was there! And now it's gone?! Ok, so missing r aside-Where is Alt? Alt, I swear to God. Ok, so everything went kinda smoothly. After checking my photoshop, a second Alt was never there, but r remains missing, scared and alone. I'm in the process of making the odd-keys, and those damn tiny keys up top, and maybe an extra r if the wolves don't find him first.

• Hours: 2 = 18 total
• Out: Still 61...I think I'll check my receipts, I forgot what I left out...
  

First: I could kill this thing, but let's continue...

I found these sweet tags at Michaels. They were a welcome sight after wasting my time looking for buttons with brass rings. They were silver, but after some paint with the greatest paintbrushes money can buy (Kids water coloring book brush, hells yeah!), they were a proper brass/gold color. Things are going great.
According to the instruction of the master Jake von Slatt, I grabbed myself a pipe, hammer and pounded away on my felt to create the keyholes. I think I accidentally bought the industrial strength felt because I ended up hammering ripples into my pipe. After hand-cutting the holes, fitting it to the naked keys, stretching it to fit better to the naked keys...I realized it totally sucked. Maybe I should have paid more attention to the way Dr. Von Slatt organized the keyboard. Maybe I should actually follow the advice I look for? Lesson learned.
A little miffed with myself, I decided to take a break and work on the keys after they'd dried. After I designed and printed out the letters then realized I had to hand cut them too. I thought I had a scrapbooking hole punch that would work...and it did not. Couple hours later, those blasted letters are all cut out and placed it their respective tags, and my neck and fingers are killing me. 6 hours spent and I retire with the wind blown out of my sails. This is no weekend project, folks.

• Hours: 6 = 13 Total
• Out: $56 (Bought the framing! Next post!)